In a recent appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer discussed the impact that Anthropic was having on the enterprise software market. Enterprise software stocks have struggled recently as investors have wondered about the impact of AI and its ability to allow businesses to self-develop software. Cramer discussed how Anthropic was affecting the business world:
“Well I mean I thought, in the end I thought what Anthropic did was make everybody more productive and everyone made more money. Because if they’re really able to come into those areas and decimate them, those are what at Goldman we used to call dead wood, they’re dead wood areas.”
Our Methodology
To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on February 6th and tweeted about. We also provided hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of the third quarter of 2025, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 978 hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
10. Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 37
Casual restaurant chain Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) is a stock that Jim Cramer frequently discusses. Recently, his remarks have centered on the firm’s exposure to beef prices. The CNBC TV host believes that Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) can experience tailwinds from a drop in beef prices. However, recently, Truist was out with a pessimistic take for the firm. The investment bank downgraded Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH)’s shares to Hold from Buy and lowered the share price target to $188 from $206. Like Cramer, beef prices were also on the bank’s mind as it outlined that high prices could persist and hit the restaurant chain’s margins. However, while Truist downgraded to Hold, Cramer advised a Buy in response to news of President Trump signing an executive order to import more beef from Argentina. Through the order, the US will quadruple the amount of beef that it imports from Argentina in order to increase supply and lower the price:
“Buy Texas Roadhouse TXRH”
9. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 104
Retail giant Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s shares are up by 24% over the past year and by 12% year-to-date. Oppenheimer raised the firm’s share price target to $140 from $125 and kept an Outperform rating in February. The action came after UBS had bumped the target to $135 from $122 and kept a Buy rating. Tigress Financial had also raised the target to $135 from $130 and kept a Buy rating. The firm pointed out that Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was successfully integrating artificial intelligence and automation in its operations to grow revenue and improve customer experience. Cramer has consistently discussed Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) over the past couple of months. One theme that the CNBC TV host has maintained throughout his comments is his belief that the retailer continues to keep low prices for Americans. In this episode, he discussed Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) after co-host Carl Quintanilla pointed to the stock’s performance on Thursday:
“All great companies, this felt like, not 2023, when we had a comeback from COVID. Not 2016 when we had a comeback from the China problem. It felt like pre-FANG, it felt like pre FANG was invented. In 2013. Because those were so exciting and those pulled away. No, the companies that are pulling away are all household names. I say welcome back to traditional investing which is so much fun. We’re not looking at annual revenue. . .annual revenue rate, we’re not doing that. We’re not doing the Rule of 40, I mean as much as I like what Palantir is doing, I mean let’s give the due to some of these companies that are fantastic that we remember. I’m talking about great American companies, like a Walmart.”
8. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 103
Pharma giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s shares are up by 53% over the past year and by 15% year-to-date. Over the past couple of months, Cramer has turned optimistic about the company. Some factors that have driven his opinion include Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s cancer drug portfolio and its orthopedic spinoff. Recently, RBC Capital raised Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price target to $255 from $240 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The bank pointed out that the pharmaceutical company had strong finances to navigate its legal woes. Like RBC, Bank of America also raised Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s share price target. It bumped the target to $227 from $221 and kept a Neutral rating on the stock. According to BofA, the firm’s organic growth was leading to healthier multiples. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s full-year revenue in 2025 grew by 6% to $94.2 billion, while the firm outlined that revenue could sit at $100.5 billion in 2026. Cramer continues to be enamored by the pharma company as he briefly remarked:
“JNJ is amazing.”
7. Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 81
Railroad giant Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)’s shares are up by 23.6% over the past year and by 10% year-to-date. The firm’s latest earnings results saw it report $3.22 in adjusted profit per share, which marked growth from the year-ago figures of $3.04. However, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)’s revenue of $3 billion marked a 2% annual drop. Following the earnings report, Baird discussed the railroad firm’s shares. It reduced the share price target to $288 from $293 and kept a Neutral rating on the stock as part of a model update. Cramer regularly discussed the firm last year when Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) and Union Pacific announced that they were going to merge. More recently, Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy on the back of the planned merger. Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) had already warned that it could experience fluctuations in its topline due to the deal’s impact on the railroad industry. In this appearance, while Cramer did not mention Deutsche Bank, he did comment that a downgrade was unsuitable:
“Oh my god, CSX, it’s interesting, someone downgraded Norfolk Southern, that person was ill-advised.”
6. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 67
Construction equipment provider Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s shares are up by 28% over the past year and by 31% year-to-date. 2026 has been relatively quiet for the firm when it comes to news. In early December, Jefferies raised Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s share price target to $475 from $440 and kept a Hold rating on the shares, as it explained that the firm’s growth strategy was dependent on growth through services. BMO Capital also discussed Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s shares in December. It maintained a Market Perform rating and a $460 share price target and commended the firm’s growth targets. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) reported its fiscal first-quarter financials on February 13th. The firm outlined that it had earned $869 million in profit, which marked a 50% drop over the year-ago figures. It also reported $8.5 billion in net income and revenue for a 30% annual dip. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) had also struggled in its fourth quarter when the firm had outlined that pressures from tariffs would continue to affect its margins. However, before the firm’s latest financial release, Cramer remarked that it had had a good quarter:
“Deere had a great quarter.”
5. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 70
Construction equipment giant Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)’s shares are up by 115% over the past year and by 27% year-to-date. Baird discussed the firm in late January as it raised the share price target to $805 from $680. The coverage came after Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings report. During the quarter, the firm earned $19.1 billion in revenue and $5.16 in profit per share. The accompanying comments by the CEO followed a theme that Cramer has long discussed for the firm. The CNBC TV host has repeatedly asserted that Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is set to benefit from the boom in growing data center construction, and the firm’s CEO Joe Creed commented that data center operators were turning towards on-site power generation. Jefferies discussed the stock ahead of the earnings. It raised the share price target to $750 from $700 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. The bank commented that Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was heading into a favorable setup for the earnings. As for Cramer, he praised the firm’s performance:
“Have you guys looked at Caterpillar? Oh my, don’t look too close here, eyes will burn, it’s just amazing.”
4. Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 56
Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) is one of the biggest consumer goods firms in the world. Its shares are up by 8.8% over the past year and by 22.9% year-to-date. Barclays discussed the firm in February as it raised the share price target to $88 from $83 and kept an Equal Weight rating. The investment bank pointed out that while Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) could accelerate its growth in 2026, the firm could find it difficult to generate comparable tailwinds from price growth in emerging markets as it had done so in the past. Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings saw the firm report $5.2 billion in revenue, which was higher than the $5.13 billion in analyst estimates. The firm’s $0.95 in adjusted earnings per share also beat the estimates of $0.91. Jefferies also discussed Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) in February, as it hiked the share price target to $91 from $85 and kept a Hold rating on the stock. Cramer praised the earnings release:
“Colgate had a better than expected quarter, they had better than expected organic growth.”
3. The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 87
Consumer goods giant The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s shares are down by 6% over the past year and are up upby 13% year-to-date. Berenberg Bank and TD Cowen discussed the firm in late January. Berenberg set a $156 share price target and kept a Hold rating. However, TD Cowen downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and raised the price target to $156 from $150. One factor that TD Cowen discussed as part of its coverage of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was the firm’s organic sales growth. The financial firm pointed out that the consumer goods company’s organic sales growth could accelerate sluggishly, as it added that the bulls were basing their optimism on the belief that growth had bottomed out at 0% last year. UBS discussed The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s shares in mid-January. It cut the share price target to $161 from $176 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. The financial firm commented that the firm was operating in a tough environment but added that it could see its fundamentals improve this year. Cramer contrasted The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s organic growth with its share price performance:
“Procter had horrendous organic growth, but look at that, that’s a machine.”
2. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 75
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) is a well-known video game developer known for the iconic Grand Theft Auto series. Its shares are down by 9% over the past year and by 24% year-to-date. Wells Fargo and BMO Capital discussed the firm in February. Wells Fargo raised Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO)’s share price target to $301 from $288 and kept an Overweight rating on the stock. The bank explained that the video game developer’s third quarter 2025 bookings and operating income had performed well. BMO Capital also raised Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO)’s share price target. It bumped the target price to $280 from $275 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. BMO outlined that the firm had executed well across its mobile, NBA, and other platforms during the third quarter and added that it was well poised to implement AI across its operations. Cramer previously discussed Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) in a Mad Money appearance aired on February 4th, where he called it a great stock and added that the shares had struggled due to the impact of Google’s AI products on the market. He defended the firm in this appearance as well:
“Take Two Interactive, they have to defend themselves against this nonsense.
“You wanna not own Grand Theft Auto when it comes in November? That’s a buy.”
1. ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 104
Enterprise workflow software services provider ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW)’s shares are down by 46% over the past year and by 27.8% year-to-date. Banking giant Goldman Sachs added the firm to its US Conviction List in February with a $216 share price target and a Buy rating. Goldman pointed out that ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) could grow by 20% year-over-year through 2029 by focusing on growth in untapped areas. Truist also discussed the firm in February. It cut the share price target to $175 from $240 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. The financial firm outlined that ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) and other stocks in the sector were being pressured by investor sentiment about terminal value instead of fundamentals. Truist added that software stocks that had previously relied on a seat-based model for their services were not performing well and therefore could see greater tailwinds stemming from AI. Cramer discussed ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) in the context of AI firm Anthropic’s lead in the industry:
“Now I think that ServiceNow, and I think that Salesforce are great companies. And I think that people just say, you know what, Anthropic is going to figure out what they do. But Anthropic doesn’t even. . .”
While we acknowledge the potential of NOW to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NOW and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
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